The National Shrine of Saint Martin de Porres at Saint Anthony of Padua Church in New Orleans is a site of pilgrimage whose significance extends beyond the devotional into the prophetic. Martin de Porres, the first Black saint of the Americas, was born in Lima, Peru in 1579, the illegitimate son of a Spanish nobleman and a freed woman of African and Indigenous descent. His life — spent in the Dominican priory of the Holy Rosary in Lima, caring for the sick and the poor with a charity that recognised no barriers of race, class or status — speaks directly to the most urgent questions of justice and dignity that have characterised the history of New Orleans and the American South. The Dominican Province of Saint Martin de Porres, which operates the shrine, chose to honour his name in recognition of the saint's particular meaning for communities of African descent in the Americas. New Orleans, with its complex layering of French, Spanish, African, Creole and Caribbean cultures, and its history as one of the major centres of the transatlantic slave trade, is a fitting city to hold the national shrine of a saint whose own story is one of suffering, dignity and grace triumphing over the hierarchies of race. Saint Anthony of Padua Church, which houses the shrine, is a handsome building in the Canal Street corridor whose interior is enriched with artwork and devotional imagery relating to Martin de Porres. The shrine draws pilgrims from across the Gulf South and from the broader African-American Catholic community, and its ministry of intercession speaks to those seeking healing in the wounds that the history of race in America has left upon individuals, families and communities.
The national shrine of the first Black saint of the Americas, patron of racial harmony and social justice
Located in New Orleans, a city whose own history of race and slavery gives the shrine particular prophetic resonance
Operated by the Dominican Province of Saint Martin de Porres, named in honour of the saint
Saint Martin de Porres was canonised in 1962 by Pope John XXIII and named patron of those seeking interracial justice
His feast day, 3 November, is celebrated with special Masses and devotions at the New Orleans shrine
Saint Martin de Porres: Life and Legacy
Martín de Porres Velázquez was born on 9 December 1579 in Lima, Peru, the illegitimate son of Don Juan de Porres, a Spanish knight, and Ana Velázquez, a freed woman of African and possibly Native American descent. His father initially refused to acknowledge him; when he finally did, it was with conditions that reflected the racial hierarchies of colonial Peru. Martin was placed as an apprentice to a barber-surgeon — one of the few trades open to those of mixed race — before, at the age of fifteen, presenting himself to the Dominican priory of the Holy Rosary in Lima.
Initially admitted only as a lay helper (Peruvian law forbade people of mixed African descent from taking religious vows), Martin was eventually professed as a lay brother in 1603. Within the priory he served as barber, surgeon, infirmarian and almoner. He established a free clinic and an orphanage, brought food and medicine to the poor of Lima from his own means, and was known for miracles of bilocation, levitation and healing. He died on 3 November 1639, and the viceroy of Peru and the archbishop of Lima held his hands as he passed.
The Dominican Connection
Martin de Porres lived and died a Dominican lay brother, and his cause has always been championed by the Order of Preachers. He was beatified in 1837 and canonised by Pope John XXIII on 6 May 1962, the first person of African descent to be canonised in the post-colonial era. Pope John XXIII named him patron of those seeking interracial justice and harmony — a designation of profound significance in the year before the March on Washington.
The Dominican Province of Saint Martin de Porres, headquartered in New Orleans, bears his name as a mark of the Province's commitment to his spirit of charity across racial lines. The Province serves the African-American Catholic community of the Gulf South and maintains the national shrine as a centre of prayer, pilgrimage and advocacy.
The Shrine at New Orleans
Saint Anthony of Padua Church, home to the national shrine, stands on Canal Street, one of New Orleans's most celebrated boulevards. The shrine interior features devotional imagery of Saint Martin de Porres — including a large image of the saint in his Dominican habit, holding the broom that is his traditional attribute (a reference to his humility in accepting the most menial work). The ministry of the shrine extends to prayer petition services, novenas to Saint Martin, and outreach to those experiencing racial discrimination, poverty or social exclusion.
Visiting
New Orleans is one of the great pilgrimage destinations of American Catholicism, with a history of Catholic devotional life dating to the French colonial period. The shrine at Saint Anthony of Padua is easily accessible from the French Quarter and the central business district. The feast of Saint Martin de Porres falls on 3 November, and the anniversary of his canonisation (6 May) is also observed with special devotions.